Aberdeen City Region Deal - weekly progress update 24th November

In the latest weekly update from the Aberdeen City Region Deal team, we look back at the Business Breakfast event recently hosted by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC).

The packed event at Aberdeen's Marcliffe Hotel on November 17 was a chance to hear more about the proposed City Region Deal and attendees heard that diversifying the local economy away from oil and gas is key.

But they also heard that a proposed oil and gas technology centre is one of the key “asks” of the city region deal proposals.

The deal is not a wish list of “nice-to-have projects” – they have to be able to make a real and demonstrable difference to the economy and translate into increased tax going to government, the audience heard.

Aberdeen City Council chief executive Angela Scott and Aberdeenshire Council chief executive Jim Savege spoke at the event, with panellists including: Aberdeen City Council Leader, Jenny Laing; Aberdeenshire Council Co-Leader, Martin Kitts-Hayes; Stephen Phillips, Partner and Head of Public Sector Team, Burness Paull LLP; Jennifer Craw, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Robert Gordon University; and Pat Machray, Chair, ANM Group.

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils are putting together a final proposal to submit to both the UK and Scottish Governments within the next few weeks.

While there is no strict timeline for completion of the bid, Aberdeenshire Council Chief Executive Jim Savege told the Business Breakfast he hopes to reach a conclusion in the current financial year.

The local business community has been praised for the way it has interacted with the project so far, and those at the Business Breakfast heard the team behind the City Region Deal bid will formalise the public private partnership through the creation of a joint committee to oversee/govern the City Region Deal, including representatives from both Councils and from the private sector.

After the event, a further 58 people signed up to receive this weekly update – welcome along and we hope to keep you informed and take you along on this journey with us.